Carmelo Bernabeu, PhD, Speaker

Carmelo Bernabeu is Emeritus Research Professor at the Spanish National Research Council in Madrid. Dr. Bernabeu obtained his PhD in Chemical Sciences (Biochemistry) from Autonomous University, in Madrid, Spain (1977), where he was appointed Lecturer in the Microbiology Department (1977-79). He had postdoctoral training at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) to work on the ribosome structure using immune electron microscopy under the supervision of Dr. James A. Lake (1980-1981). Then, he moved to Harvard Medical School in Boston, where he led studies in the Immunology field on the human major histocompatibility complex in the laboratory of Dr. Cox Terhorst (1982-1983). In 1985, he was appointed Staff scientist at the Spanish National Research Council, where he began basic studies on the endoglin gene and endoglin protein and its involvement in vascular pathophysiology, especially in HHT. Among others, he contributed to the generation of monoclonal antibodies to endoglin, the isolation of the full-length endoglin cDNA, the characterization of the gene promoter sequence of endoglin, the chromosomal mapping of the endoglin gene, the characterization of the endoglin protein as an auxiliary receptor for members of the TGF-β family of cytokines and as a cell adhesion counter-receptor for members of the integrin family. He has also been involved in genetic studies of HHT patients, some of which were developed during a sabbatical leave in 2018 at the Department of Pathology, University of Utah, in collaboration with Drs. Pinar Bayrak-Toydemir and Jamie McDonald. His translational research has provided a framework for a better understanding of the molecular mechanism that HHT proteins play in the pathogenesis of HHT with the ultimate goal of improving its diagnosis & treatment. Dr. Bernabeu´s involvement in HHT also goes beyond the laboratory as he has actively collaborated with his research target, namely the HHT community, including Cure HHT, as well as with the Spanish Association of HHT Patients. Since 2008 he has been a member of the Global Research and Medical Advisory Board (GRMAB) of Cure HHT, and he was appointed to chair this board from 2008-2013. Since 1996 he has participated in all HHT Scientific International Conferences, in some cases contributing to their scientific and logistic organization.

In his laboratory, Dr. Bernabeu has actively supported the training of young investigators in the field of HHT basic research. He has supervised 15 doctoral theses and numerous students from International Exchange Training Programs. He has extensive teaching experience having participated in numerous courses, master’s degrees, and seminars related to molecular biomedicine at different national and international universities. He has coauthored more than 200 publications in international scientific journals as well as several international patents and material transfer agreements. His scientific contributions are well recognized in the area of Biomedicine as reflected by several markers of scientific impact. For example, he has been cited more than 18.000 times and his H index is 72.